michelle kosinski in johannesburg, michelle, thanks very much. >> let's go to nbc's andrea mitchell following the outpouring of tributes pouring in all around the world. andrea, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. nelson mandela is indeed being mourned around the world and here at home by the americans whose lives he influenced, starting with the president of the united states. nelson mandela transformed his nation and the world. a freedom fighter with the grace and courage to forgive his oppressors. inspiring generations of civil rights leaders at a young barack obama who recalled a rally on his own college campus. >> my very first political action, first thing i ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics was a protest against apartheid. >> reporter: as a senator obama had visited mandela, and the president and mrs. obama brought their doubters to robben island prison so they could better understand what mandela had suffered. after he died, michelle obama tweeted we will forever draw strength and inspiration from nelson mandela's extraordinary example of mo